Despite 75 Lakh in their handbag, RCB did not submit to the players and ended with 23 players (maximum 25) in the team for IPL 2025.
Everything went well for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier (IPL) 2025. It all started at the auction table in Djeddah last year. RCB planned retention and purchases as well as they could. The result is a first IPL title race.
This means that the 2026 IPL auction, there will not be a lot of cup and change. The players, foreigners and Indians, have succeeded in their respective roles. And even the backups have entered and played.
Swastik Chikara, Manoj Bhandage, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh and Swapnil Singh played a match between them, but they are good backups at low cost and freeing them does not make much sense. All the other team players have successfully succeeded.
But RCB could come out a few players. To start, they already have two slots that they can fill with national players. But by releasing two players worth approximately Rs 15 crores, RCB can further strengthen their team.
RCB players could be released before the IPL 2026 auction
| Player | Attribute | Price | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasikh Salam Dar | Launcher | RS 6 Core | 1 window (2 rounds, 70 means, 11.66 savings) |
| Liam Livingstone✈️ | Versatile | Rs 8.75 crore | 112 points (8 rounds, 16 means, 133.33 strike rates) 2 counters (5 rounds, 38 means, 8.44 savings) |
The first version will be Rasikh Salam Dar. The talented fast launcher was acquired for RS 6 crosses after an interesting IPL 2024 season. According to the talents, RS 6 believed was worth it for cashmere. But the result was not great. Given as a natural flag holder, Rasikh did not impress in this department. And he has never been economical and if he cannot take a counters in the middle of the middle, RCB does not have much utility for him.
Liam Livingstone could be the second version. The English versatile played only 9 letters. And neither her average nor his strike rate was good enough to justify a place. If Tim David, Josh Hazlewood and Jacob Bethell had been available for all matches, Livingstone may not even have played 10 games. RCB can free it and recover RS 8.75 crores. Then came to acquire another versatile or perhaps recover Livingstone for a cheaper rate.
Squad RCB before IPL 2026
Drummer: Phil Salt ,, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jiteh Sharma (WK), Tim David✈️, Swastik Chikara
Versatile: Liam Livingstone✈️, Romario Shepherd✈️, Krunal Pandya, Jacob Bethell✈️, Manoj Bhandage, Mohit Rathee
Quitters: Bhuvnehwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi✈️, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Swapnil Singh, Nuwan Thushra.
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